


life is full of pain, i'm cruisin' through my brain

by gaypunkspaceunicorn



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Gen, Heavy Angst, M/M, Some Swearing, Vietnam War, non-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 02:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18240716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaypunkspaceunicorn/pseuds/gaypunkspaceunicorn
Summary: Bullets whizzed past his ears, and he would have screamed but he already was. Klaus grabbed Dave’s face, stroked his cooling cheek, rested his head on his shoulder like he did when they had nights alone. There had to be some life left in his body. In any second he would feel the heave of his chest. He had to.orKlaus takes a pit stop before going back to the future.





	life is full of pain, i'm cruisin' through my brain

One second it was all screaming, all fire. Klaus screaming, calling for a medic, calling for Dave. The air was so hot, so thick Klaus couldn’t breathe. Dave wasn’t breathing. His blood pouring out is hot, freezing, that can’t be right. Nothing was right. Nothing was right when Klaus was still breathing, and Dave was not. 

Bullets whizzed past his ears, and he would have screamed but he already was. Klaus grabbed Dave’s face, stroked his cooling cheek, rested his head on his shoulder like he did when they had nights alone. There had to be some life left in his body. In any second he would feel the heave of his chest. He had to. 

Klaus felt strong hands on his shoulders pulling him up, pulling him away from Dave. From Dave’s body. From the body. He would have pushed the soldier away, fought back, but Klaus had seen enough death, seen enough ghosts to know it wouldn’t have done anything. He yanked Dave’s dog tags from his neck, and allowed the soldier to pull him away.

Stumbling, Klaus wandered away, puffs of dirt exploding at his feet. He could hear men shouting at him, to “get the fuck back here, Hargreeves”, and “where the hell do you think you’re going?”. Klaus ignored them. Throw him out, kill him, he no longer cared. 

Somehow he found his way to the barracks, choking out a sob at the sight of Dave’s empty bed. How quickly would it be filled? And then he saw the large black briefcase, the briefcase that caused this fucking mess.

\----

When Klaus opened his eyes, he was sitting on a bus. A pretty girl with straight long hair and bellbottoms was staring at him. The bus lurched to a stop, and he slammed his head against the glass. Still holding the briefcase in his bloody hands, Klaus stumbled off the bus and onto the concrete sidewalk.

And then he remembered. 

And then he was collapsing on the ground, the concrete scraping his face, sobbing and screaming and dying, not caring if anyone saw him. He had just seen the love of his life bleed out in the jungle, goddamnit! 

And the air and concrete was cold, and he could breathe, breathe small shaky shallow. The briefcase still in his hands, Klaus flung it away from him, get it away from him, get himself away from everything. 

How good would it feel to get fucking wasted right now? To numb everything out and forget. A sob forced out that he didn’t want to ever forget Dave.

“Excuse me, are you okay?” A soft voice broke through the fuzz. Klaus flipped onto his back, blinking through the tears and the bright sun to see a woman with sensible shoes, sensible clothes, and a sensible haircut staring down at him.

“Does it fucking look like I’m okay?” Klaus screamed, curling his legs into himself, and rubbing his face. 

“Come with me, I’ll help you get cleaned up.” she said, and somehow he felt himself standing up on shaky legs, and the woman taking his arm and leading him down the street.

He was silent except for the tears streaming down his face until they came to a small house a block over. The shutters were painted a bright blue, the door as well, and the yard was full of flowers. As she led him inside, he didn’t see a giant, cold, lonely mansion, or a dirty empty apartment, or a crowded barracks. Instead he saw love, and warmth, and his tears were cold.

Klaus collapsed in a soft armchair, and she gently sat down beside him. 

“Wh… what year is it?” he mumbled, staring at her green eyes. Dave had green eyes. 

“1970, honey.” Two fucking years into the future. Great fucking job. “I’ll make you some tea, okay? Do you like earl grey?” Klaus nodded weakly, and she disappeared through a door. 

Klaus looked around. Pictures of kids were on every surface, and he was willing to bet there was no statue of her dead son in the backyard. A few looked familiar, but he didn’t want to snoop. His head was just fuzzy. Dear old dad always told Five time travel fucked up your mind. 

She came back in and passed Klaus a steaming mug with flower designs on it. 

“Thank you.” he said, too quiet to hear. “Thank you.” Klaus repeated, using all of his strength to make it louder. 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.” he said.

“It’s okay, honey, nothing I haven’t seen before. I’m a social worker.” Klaus nodded.

“My name is Klaus.” he said a few minutes later. The tea was delicious. 

“Nice to meet you Klaus, my name is Mary Katz. Do you want to talk about what’s going on?”

He stopped. “Katz?” She nodded. He couldn’t believe it, it had to be a coincidence.  
“Do you… uh do you know a Dave Katz?” Mary nodded, and he really couldn’t believe it. 

“He was my brother.” 

“We… we fought together in Vietnam.” 

“What a small world!” Mary laughed. Klaus wiped his face again, and a look of concern spread over her face.

“Come to the kitchen, Klaus, we’ll wash your hands.” she said, standing up. Terror jolted through his body, and for a second, he was back there. Back with Dave, holding his hand as the light disappeared, light Klaus never had. And now all he had left was broken dog tags and blood. 

“Do you have a picture of him I could have?” The words slipped out of his mouth like death. “I… I uh don’t have any.” His voice cracked. 

“Oh, uh, of course honey, wash your hands and I’ll look.” Mary led him to the sink and he stared out the window to a backyard with a tire swing and flowers. She turned on the tap, the blistering hot water not even registering in his mind, and left the room. 

But, as Klaus knew, hot water didn’t do much for blood, and when she came back, she switched it to cold, and rubbed his hands with a bar of soap. The touch frightened him. How he wanted Dave back, and he only died half an hour ago.

Patting his hands dry with an embroidered dish cloth, Mary sat at the table and showed him a small photograph of Dave, smiling wide in his uniform. 

“This was taken the day he went to Vietnam. I have others, and I want you to have it.” Klaus took it and pressed it against his chest until he could feel his dog tags pressing into his chest, and hot tears clinging to his jaw.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.” he said, his eyes shut tight. 

“Klaus? Can I just, ask you something?” Mary asked, taking his hand. 

“Yeah?”

“D… d’you know, when Dave died, was it quick?” His eyes slowly opened, and he nodded.

“Yes.” 

“Thank you.” she said, smiling. Klaus’s hands curled around his tea, heat seeping through to his palms, and for the first time since he could remember, he felt some semblance of peace.


End file.
